Briana Bivens
Clinical Assistant Professor
Address
Norman Hall, Office 26131221
SW 5th Avenue, Gainesville, Florida 32601
About
Dr. Briana M. Bivens is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Teachers, Schools, and Society at the University of Florida where she teaches courses in the history and social foundations of education. Her teaching is informed by an expansive and interdisciplinary notion of education, and in addition to her education courses at UF, she has taught in women’s and gender studies and child, youth, and family studies.
Building on her time as a community-based educator and organizer in Georgia, Dr. Bivens’ scholarship focuses on the theory and history of community-based education, youth political education, and sustainable movement-building. Her current book-length project draws on archival, oral history, and community-engaged methods to document and analyze the history of child and youth work at the Highlander Research and Education Center. She is especially interested in the how the care and political education of young people has supported and can support social movement sustainability.
Building on her time as a community-based educator and organizer in Georgia, Dr. Bivens’ scholarship focuses on the theory and history of community-based education, youth political education, and sustainable movement-building. Her current book-length project draws on archival, oral history, and community-engaged methods to document and analyze the history of child and youth work at the Highlander Research and Education Center. She is especially interested in the how the care and political education of young people has supported and can support social movement sustainability.
Affiliations
- Teachers, Schools, and Society Program
- School of Teaching and Learning
Research Interests
History of Education, Informal/Nonformal Ed, Social Justice in Education
Education
- Ph.D., Educational Theory and Practice (Critical Studies emphasis), University of Georgia (2021); Certificate in Women's and Gender Studies
- M.Ed., Educational Administration and Policy, University of Georgia (2016)
- B.A., Political Science, University of Florida (2013)
Selected Grants
Grants to Scholars Program
Role
- Principal Investigator
Funding Agency
- Friends of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries
Project Period
- 2024-25
Award Amount
- $2,000
Junior Faculty Award
Role
- Principal Investigator
Funding Agency
- Critical Aspects of the History of Education, Division F: History and Historiography, American Educational Research Association
Project Period
- 2024-25
Award Amount
- $1,000
Mutual Mentoring Grant
Role
- Co-PI
Funding Agency
- University Equity and Inclusion, Rutgers University
Project Period
- 2023-24
Award Amount
- $6,000
IDEA Innovation Grant
Role
- Co-PI
Funding Agency
- Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, Rutgers University
Project Period
- 2023-24
Award Amount
- $2,500
IDEA Innovation Grant
Role
- Co-PI
Funding Agency
- Division of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, Rutgers University
Project Period
- 2022-23
Award Amount
- $2,500
Selected Publications
Presentations
- Bivens, B. M. (2024, November). “What has a nursery school to do with the labor movement?”: Nurturing movement leaders at the Highlander Nursery School, 1938-1953. Paper accepted for the annual meeting of the History of Education Society, Chicago, IL.
- Bivens, B. M. (2024, April). Youthful dimensions of adult education: Child and youth work at the Highlander Folk School, 1938-1961. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, PA.
- Bivens, B. M. (2023, November). Political capacity-building and community care at the Highlander Nursery School, 1938-1953. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the History of Education Society, Atlanta, GA.
- Bivens, B. M. (2023, April). “Burnout” has an ontology problem: The promise of relationality for sustainable community action. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
- Bivens, B. M. (2022, November). The ontological capacity of early care and learning policy: Toward expansive relationalities. Paper presented at the American Educational Studies Association, Pittsburgh, PA.
Other Publications
- Bivens, B. M. (in press). Sustaining the movement: Early learning and community care at the Highlander Nursery School, 1938-1953. History of Education Quarterly.
- Singh, A. A., Parker, B., Bivens, B. M. (2024). Living our equity, diversity, inclusion, and antiracism values in the academy: Engaging in social change across generations. In D. Chang & L. L. Bryant (Eds.), Transformative careers in mental health for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color: Expert strategies to promote healing and social change in academia and clinical settings. Routledge.
- Aromi, J., Bambara, L., Bivens, B. M., Elamin, M., & Katz, L. (shared first authorship) (2023). The mentoring for social justice and community-building project: Notes on the theory and practice of co- mentoring in higher education. Professing Education, 21(2), 9–21.
- Bivens, B. M. (2023). The cruel urgencies of belonging: Neoliberal individualism in progressive community organizing. Interface: A Journal for and About Social Movements, 14(1), 122–146.
- Bivens, B. M. (2023). Federal care policy possibilities in the 117th Congress: Toward expansive kinship and collectivized carework. Educational Studies, 59(2), 145–162.
- Bivens, B. M. (2022, Sept. 1). 5 ways to sustain educational justice advocacy. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-5-ways-to-sustain-educational-justice- advocacy/2022/09
- Bivens, B. M. (2020). More just futures are possible: Connecting post qualitative inquiry and social movement organizing. International Review of Qualitative Research, 14(3), 398-411.